The "Knowing a Winning Business Idea When You See One" article was a very interesting read and one that provides some very useful and common sense tool both for vetting ideas as well as developing them.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I competed in the Cross Campus Venture Competition last Friday...and lost. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it, but it definitely made me wish I read ahead a bit in our readings so I could have benefited from some of the insights in this article.
Specifically, one of the problems I've always had is explaining the potential of my business. The basic concept is relatively straightforward--an online tool for connecting local business and local consumers--but it doesn't share the whole picture. Ultimately, along with being a tool for economic development, I see the potential for the onlyin-x model to be a platform for supporting broad adoption of hyperlocal applications by local businesses across the country. Every time I've tried to explain my reasoning behind that, though, I've always become tongue-tied and end up saying things like, "You know, it would like support other stuff, because it's hard for them now, and...you know, people could see it, and, well, you know..."
Not very effective. :)
This article provides some very good tools for verbalizing what I'm trying to say. Basically, if the Buyer Experience Cycle I'm occupying is that of "Finding things to do," onlyinpgh is firmly in the Delivery column. In terms of levers, it's hitting simplicity and convenience, but ultimately the most important one is customer productivity. Using onlyinpgh will be a much more efficient use of our customer's time than the current options because it'll provide better content in a better interface.
I'll definitely be pondering on this for a while, but this is article definitely provides some powerful tools and a good mental framework.
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